In recent years, advanced external object sensing for automotive vehicles has become increasingly important as many cars and trucks have been adapted to include various comfort, convenience and vehicle “operational safety” features. Generally, vehicle operational safety features include collision warning/mitigation, pre-crash braking, adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection and parking assistance applications. In addition, these features may include vehicle-to-vehicle two-way telemetry and reversible collision avoidance applications. For many vehicle operational safety features, it is necessary to establish wide-angle sensor coverage areas. Wide-angle sensor coverage can be generally defined as up to a 180 degree beam coverage area, which for a front mounted automotive sensor would include complete front sensor coverage and partial side sensor coverage. For a dual sensor array, wide-angle sensor coverage can be generally defined as up to a 270 degree beam coverage area, which for corner mounted automotive sensors would include complete front and side sensor coverage. In general, active vehicle operational safety features for collision avoidance require front sensor beam coverage. Passive vehicle operational safety features generally require front sensor beam coverage and some degree of side sensor beam coverage.
Typically, a designated sensor is utilized for scanning a designated scan area such as frontal only, side only and rear only. U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,316, discloses such a typical sensor system. The '316 patent discloses a mechanically rotating vehicle sensor for frontal or side scanning which may detect the presence of an object and calculate the distance between the object and the sensor's host vehicle to alert the vehicle operator of a possible collision threat. While the sensor is able to rotate and scan for objects in frontal and side scanning areas, it cannot scan frontal and side areas simultaneously. Further, the invention, while suitable for its intended purpose, merely discloses a system for warning a vehicle operator of a possible hazard. The sensor is not utilized for activating vehicle operational safety features.
It is currently desirable to have the capability to control an automotive vehicle sensor for both front and side vehicle operational safety feature requirements. In particular, there is a need in the art for a single sensor positioned along the front longitudinal axis of an automotive vehicle with front-looking and side-looking sensor functionality. An ideal single sensor for front-looking and side-looking functionality would generally have up to a 180 degree sensor beam coverage area.
There is also a need in the art for a dual sensor system positioned at the corners of the front longitudinal axis of an automotive vehicle with complete front-looking and side-looking sensor functionality. An ideal dual sensor system for front-looking and side-looking functionality would generally have up to a 270 degree sensor beam coverage area.
There is also a need in the art for a method of controlling multiple sensor beams for scanning particular scan regions depending on unique criteria for each vehicle operational safety feature supported by an automotive vehicle sensor. Also, there is a need in the art for a method for controlling a sensor for scanning particular scan regions for multiple vehicle operational safety features on a feature-dependent, time-interleaved basis. Time-interleaved sensor scanning may be determined based on vehicle operating conditions and vehicle operational safety feature criteria.
Finally, there is a need in the art for a method of controlling a sensor for an automotive vehicle for simultaneously detecting front and side region objects and for activating active and passive vehicle operational safety features in response to an object detection.